We’ll keep you posted on Port City’s progress, but it seems like things have gotten off on the right foot. Cheers to Bill and the rest of his team for getting started! Happy brewing!
Alexandria’s Port City Brewing began its odyssey this week by brewing its first batches on a newly completed brewing system. A recent trip (prior to the brewing of the first batch) to Port City found a very excited founder Bill Butcher showing off a tasting room that is coming together and a brewery achingly close to producing tasty beers.
The brewery had taken a number of important steps after the new year including getting a cold room that was actually, you know, cold on January 5, commissioning the brewing system and getting the brewhouse powered on January 11, and finally mashing in the first batch on the 15th. So far, from what Twitter tells, me, two of the four Port City beers have been brewed (the Essential Pale Ale and the Optimal Wit.) These are the first of two important steps toward keeping the 500 kegs and countless thousands of bottles filled since the last brewery in Alexandria closed in 1915.
As he showed us the brewery, Bill Butcher told us that with the anticipated demands of the DC beer market, Port City will be keeping busier than he originally anticipated in his business plan. He joked that head brewer Jonathan Reeves will probably be setting up a futon or hammock somewhere in the brewery to catch some shut-eye in between batches. Luckily, Jonathan will have the wonderful malty aroma of brewing beer to lull him into dream land.
The tasting room, which I mentioned earlier, is making progress toward completion. Bill intends to have cases and six-packs of all of their beer varieties lining the walls for easy pick-up.
Patrons can also taste some tantalizing tipples at the newly-installed bar.
We’ll keep you posted on Port City’s progress, but it seems like things have gotten off on the right foot. Cheers to Bill and the rest of his team for getting started! Happy brewing!
